The first year of the University of St Andrews Monastic Archaeology Field School has unearthed evidence of medieval buildings and pottery at Lindores Abbey, near Newburgh, Fife.
Lindores Abbey, founded by the Tirroneous monks in the 12th century, may have been the site of the first whiskey produced in Scotland. Financial records from 1494 record James IV making a payment for “aqua vitae” to the abbey. Previous work at the abbey has included valuation work by Rebecca Shaw in 2016 and the discovery of a medieval still in 2018. Currently, the University of St Andrews has begun a project to unearth more archaeological evidence at the abbey.
During the first year of the new field school, archaeologists and 15 St Andrews Summer Study students dug four trenches to answer specific questions about the layout of the abbey and its precincts. This revealed traces of demolished buildings and at least one wooden building to the east of the abbey’s church and cloister. Excavations confirmed that a wall line previously identified as part of the southern precinct line of the abbey is in fact of later date and part of the boundary of the abbey’s later orchard.
The team discovered abundant ceramics at the site, along with evidence of the original layout of the monastery. Among these finds were sherds of medieval Scottish redware and white grittyware dating from the 12th to 15th centuries, imported German (Rhine) stoneware from the 14th to 15th centuries, and sherds of highly decorated pottery from France or the Low Countries dating to the 13th to 14th centuries. One sherd of a ceramic bird whistle was a particularly beautiful find, probably of post-monastic origin from France or southern England. Most of the pottery was found in deep, layered deposits in the southern part of the complex, along with animal bones of a similar nature to those found in Shaw’s 2016 evaluation.
This first season provided a valuable introduction to the archaeology of the site for the project team and an ideal training ground for a team of summer trainees.Over the next few years the work will continue with a renewed aim of investigating water use and management in and around the Abbey grounds, which lie primarily within an area designated by Historic Environment Scotland.
The project team would like to thank Drew and Helen Mackenzie Smith and the team at Lindores Abbey Distillery for their support and interest.
Text: courtesy of Derek Hall, Professor Alison Beach (University of St Andrews), Professor Darlene L Brooks Hedstrom (Brandeis University), Calum Muir and Dr Kimm Curran (University of St Andrews) / Image: University of St Andrews Monastic Archaeology Field School
